Crimson and Silver
by 0rsa
Summary: Mai Yui, a young teenager living in an ancient communist civilization, and her father work and fight to destroy the illusion and discover the mysteries of the city. But, when the Infinites stop playing by the rules, Mai may be pushed over the edge...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_"Higher daddy! Faster!" an eight-year-old little girl cried._

_Her father, a tall man in his thirties laughed. He had a face that had faced much hardship, along with some small, grey stubble growing on his chin. He was dressed in a grey-green robe that stretched down to his knees, along with a dark-yellowish belt that extended around his robe just below his waist. He also had a small circle of the same color directly above where his heart would be with a lone character in the exact center of the small shape. It read a single word: ''Honor." _

_His daughter was dressed in the same outfit, but in a smaller size. He was gripping her hands in his and swinging her around in a circle, and she was loving every second of it. The world was a blur to her, and all she could see at this point was her father's face, but that was all she cared about at this moment in time. Her father's young figure, along with his grey hair, made a strange combination, but she was too young to care. She loved him immensly, and he knew it enough to return her love._

_He stopped revolving and set her down. As he turned for the final time, she jumped out of his hands and yelled back, "Come on, Daddy! Let's go!" She then ran off into the orange setting sun. As he spun on his heel to follow her, he spotted a lone, white blemish on a darkened red rose bush. His expression turned from joy to surprise for a moment, but then turned back to joy as he ran to follow his daughter._

_As the man finally caught up to his daughter, she had picked a good number of red roses, and she turned and put them in his hand. "For you, Daddy," his daughter spoke silently. The man brought the roses up to his face and stared for a moment, as if looking for something, then lowered the small bushel, and smiled at his child._

_"Come, honey. It's getting late," he said, simultaneously grabbing her hand and walking off toward their home. For a few minutes, the only sound that could be heard from the pair were footsteps hitting the pavement of the walkway leading to a grand, almost palace-like home. It was extremely large, with a red roof, and many tinted windows, as if to block intruders from eavsdropping or spying on the small family of father and daughter. _

_As they reached the porch, he led his small daughter inside, then quietly extinguished the many lanturns lighting the porch, as if blemishing the final bit of light from the entire world. With a final look around, the father walked inside and closed the door._

_The tall man then took his daughter by the hand for the final time of the night, and led her through the tunnel-like hallways of the immense house to her bedroom. When they arrived, he tucked her in rapidly and said a hurried good-night. He then extinguished the lanturn and closed her bedroom door._

_After putting his daughter to bed, her father then quietly walked to the kitchen, still clutching his daughter's gift of the roses, and got out two glasses of water. For the first glass, he tenderly slipped the flowers into the cup and set it on the table. The second, he swiftly drank, but after empty, his hand was badly trembling, so the glass slipped out of his grip and shattered on the floor. Then, he grabbed a broom and threw the shards out the window into a sewer pipe. He then retired to his own bedroom._

_The man's bedroom was larger with a large book propped open on the desk. He picked up a small feather quill and began to write..._

_"Day 63. The Infinites are closing in. Mai and I are not safe here. Planning to move across the town in a few days. The..."_

_A triad of slashes, a red color...then nothing..._

Mai Yui woke with a start. She should not have been surprised. The same dream had been attacking her mind for the past week. Each night, she had stealthly walked to her father's room to check on him. Why should tonight be any different?

Again, she walked quietly along the labyrinth-like hallways to check that her father was still safe. As she opened the door, it began to creak. She backed away for a moment, but looking through the crack in the door, she could see, even with the small handicap, that her father was snoring and breathing normally, his diary was still in place, and the broadswords were still hanging on the wall. She had always admired her father's skill with broadswords, but always feared to ask for training. The hilts of the swords were made of pure gold, while her father never let a day go by without sharpening them. Quietly, she pushed the door closed and snuck back to bed.

As Mai climbed back into bed, she tried to let sleep overtake her again, but she had too many questions in her head. Why was the dream constantly returning? What was it about? Would it come true?

_No, _Mai thought. _I will not ever let this dream come true. My father will live long enough to see me grow into a warrior, and maybe I'll even fight by his side one day._

And with that joyful thought, sleep returned to her mind, and she fell into unconciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Mai slept longer and sounder than she normally would have during the night and into the morning, but she was having good dreams about her father and his swordsmanship skills. She dreamt about him and the courageous men who kept the large city safe. Her father had told her the story of the nineteenth siege so many times, she could vividly visualize it when she closed her eyes...

_The invaders, numerous thousands of them, began the march on the large walls of the city, armed with cannons and catapults. As they reached the base of the wall, they fired. The wall was hit hard, but not completely penetrated. Because there were so many siege weapons and because the weapons were sychronized to fire simutaneously, the army was immobile for more than 3 minutes, loading immense rocks and tons of gunpowder._

_After the third shot, the men were tiring from lifting the voluminous ammunition. They moved slower, their bodies weary. But, their hearts were joyful! Soon, the wall would split, and they could storm the city. The long and demanding war would end, and the army could finally go home!_

_One soldier toward the front of the vicious array noticed shadows on the wall. Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be large spiders stealthly moving down ropes tied to the top of the wall. "Look!" he cried. Unfortunately, his call of warning came too late._

_Mai's father led the pack of warriors. He was much younger and more agile then, and held the now-framed, golden broadswords at his side. His grey hair was then black, with the kind blue eyes fierce and determined. As he advanced on the soldiers, the slow-witted soldiers drew their guns too slowly. He lept and swiftly struck, slashing two cannons in half, then rolled and plunged his swords into the soldiers working the cannons. _

_By this time, the other swordsman had reached the front line, and were wreaking just as much havok. But, everyone's eyes were on Mai's father. He was rolling and leaping, taking out four or five soldiers at a time. Within three minutes, half of the massive invasion force was on the ground, either dead or bleeding profusely. The masters quickly disposed of the cannons and the catapults, as the city was already armed enough._

_Suddenly, the dream changed. Mai was seeing the dream from her father's eyes. Instead of outside the city's walls, she was in the courtyard of the Forbidden Place. All around her, people lay dead or dying, both in white uniforms and grey uniforms. A feeling of grief was all over the interior of her body, and threatened to completely overtake her. She seemed to be seeing the world in red. As her eyes scanned the palace, a spiritual wave of emotion hit her like a train. It was unbearable._

_As she turned on her heel to leave the eerie courtyard, a slash of pain erupted through her body, originating from her chest. She looked down and saw a silver blade through her chest. As the immense pain spread throughout the body and blood began to squirt from the wound, she simply fell to her knees and accepted the assured death..._

Mai shot up in bed for the second time that night. Another night dreaming about death. Why did the subject constantly float into her subconscious mind during the nighttime. She turned to look out the window, the sole source of light for the room, and saw that the sunrise was just beginning. Mai climbed out of her small bed and got dressed, her mind still dwelling upon her malicious dream.

"Who was it meant for?" she muttered quietly. "My father or myself?"

After dressing, she started down to leave the house and eat her morning meal outside. Mai had long since memorized the maze of hallways and doors. The only sound that could be heard was the quiet _Thump! _of her slippers as they swiftly touched the metal of the tunnel-like passageways. Mai was not in a hurry, she never was, it was just her manner of moving. She always moved hastily, sometimes without even knowing it.

As Mai reached the sitting room, and pushed on the door to exit the manor, a familiar voice came from behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?"


	3. Chapter 3

Mai swiftly turned on her heel and found herself staring into her father's face. It was different for the third time, and this one was definitely more mature than the men in Mai's dreams. He was clean-shaven now, but he still had the warm, calming eyes from her first dream. As she smiled at him, then turned toward the door, he also took a step toward it, placing his hand on it and firmly holding the wood in place.   
"Honey, where are you going?" he asked a second time.   
"Dad, I was just going out to meditate before school starts."   
"No." he quietly objected. "You aren't going to school today. We are going to complete your education here."   
"...Father?" she questioned, but he silenced her with a small hand gesture. Walking toward the wall, he carefully lifted the golden broadswords from their mount on the wall. The warrior swiftly unsheathed them and swu ng them in a circle masterfully, not touching a single piece of the house or his body.   
"I am going to train you to use...these," he said, sheathing the blades and handed them to his daughter. Surprisingly, they were not heavy, but felt right in her hands. She slid the weapons out of the sheath and saw that they were silver-plated. She saw a flash of the red liquid squirting from her body, but blinked and turned away quickly.   
"Mai, what's wrong?" her father asked.   
"Nothing, father. Can you teach me now?" Mai asked, with a hint a feigned eagerness in her voice.   
Her father smiled. "Of course. Come outside with me." 

By twilight, her father was astounded. Mai had mastered the basics and was working on advanced spins and strikes. Her footwork was incredible and he had never seen such raw talent. She was working on a spin to jab when her father began to stare toward a nightshade bush against the red light of the dying sun. There was another speck of white, hidden beneath the many branches and blooms of the bush. He gasped, turned around, and saw Mai just finish a perfect uppercut. She looked up at him and smiled. He attempted to feign a smile back, then ushered her inside quickly.   
During the night, Mai was tossing and turning again. She suddenly sat up in bed, sweating and breathing hard. She tried to remember her dream but all she could recall was a giant blur of black and white, almost like a Yin-Yang. Suddenly, she remembered walking toward it and the white striking her hard in the chest while the black pulled her in. After standing up to get a drink from her oak table, she thought she heard a window slam. Convincing herself that it was a dream, she laid down to bed again and went back to sleep. 


End file.
